ROCKVILLE, Md (WUSA9) — Prosecutors say a wealthy Bethesda computer hacker kept a young man who died in a fire as a virtual slave in the tunnels under his home.
Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Doug Wink told a judge that Daniel Beckwitt refused to let victim Askia Khafra out of the twenty-foot deep tunnel without black-out glasses.
Wink says Beckwitt led Khafra through the house with a string, and that when fire broke out last September, Khafra likely had no idea how to get out.
He said the house was so packed with detritus that it was a virtual maze, with narrow pathways through garbage packed almost to the ceiling.
A judge ordered Beckwitt release on a $100,000 bail. He's charged with second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
Both prosecutors and Beckwitt's lawyer, Robert Bonsib, say he should have no trouble paying the bail. He's amassed a multi-million dollar fortune day trading on the stock market.
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Bonsib painted a very different picture of his client than prosecutors.
He admitted Beckwitt is an "unusual individual," but insisted he's neither a threat to the community, nor a flight risk. He said he was motivated to dig the tunnels by fear of a North Korean nuclear attack.
And Bonsib says Khafra was proud of his work digging the tunnels, even posting pictures of himself in a mask and helmet down in the tunnels.
Prosecutors allege Beckwitt showed a "wanton disregard" for Khafra's life. They say Khafra texted him just before the fire broke out and said he smelled smoke. Then the lights went out. But instead of looking for the cause of the smoke, Wink said Beckwitt just threw the switch on the fuse box and left him down there.
Investigators blame the fire on a "daisy chain" of extension cords and power strips powering lights, ventilation, and power tools strung out through the tunnels. They say Beckwitt knew the set up was a fire risk.
But Bonsib said Beckwitt did his best to rescue Khafra, even going back into the burning house to get him, inhaling so much smoke that he ended up in the hospital for four days. Bonsib called Khafra's death "simply a tragic accident."
